OPEC said a production cut accord between 24 countries resulted in oil stocks to drop by 300 million barrels but more needs to be done despite March conformity at 149 per cent.
OPEC said a production cut accord between 24 countries resulted in oil stocks to drop by 300 million barrels but more needs to be done despite March conformity at 149 per cent.
Twenty-four OPEC and 14 non-OPEC members, led by Russia, agreed to a voluntary production cut of around 1.8 million barrels per day to bring down oil inventories to their five-year average – a level seen as a re-balancing of global oil market to prop up oil prices. The deal, which came into effect 15 months ago was extended twice to run through 2018.
OECD commercial stock levels have been adjusted from a peak of 3.12 billion barrels in July 2016 to 2.83 billion barrels in March 2018, corresponding to a drop of 300 million barrels, OPEC said in a statement.
However, current commercial stocks remain above levels seen before the market downturn, OPEC said, even as the participating countries achieved a conformity of 149 per cent in March to allocated production levels.
“Once again, participating countries have demonstrated unwavering dedication to achieving the rebalancing of the global oil market, as demonstrated by the high conformity level of 149 per cent,” OPEC said. “Their collective efforts continue to yield positive results, with market fundamentals being solid.”
The OPEC/Non-OPEC Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC) met in Saudi Arabia on April 20 and it expected to meet again on June 21 in Austria.
Source: Pipeline ME
